One of the Internet’s greatest gifts isn’t streaming video, social media, or even instant information. It’s something far more practical and revolutionary: online reviews.
For the first time in history, ordinary people can share their real experiences with products, tradespeople, restaurants, doctors, contractors, hotels, airlines and just about anything else—and in doing so, help complete strangers make better decisions. This may not sound revolutionary, but compared to how things worked before the Internet, it represents real value to millions.
Not long ago, making a purchase decision meant operating in the dark. If you needed a plumber, roofer, or electrician, you asked a neighbor, flipped through the Yellow Pages, or took a chance on an ad that told you nothing about quality or reliability. If you bought a car, appliance, or television, you relied on glossy marketing brochures, a salesperson’s pitch, or perhaps a single magazine review written by someone you’d never meet.
Today, that asymmetry is gone. The customer now has much more power.
Before hiring a contractor, you can now read dozens—or hundreds—of first hand accounts detailing punctuality, workmanship, pricing, and how problems were handled. You can see patterns emerge: missed appointments, surprise fees, or consistently outstanding service. The same applies to restaurants, hotels, products, and even local service businesses that once operated with little accountability.
This is not just more information; it’s better information.
Online reviews are messy, imperfect, and occasionally unfair. And now we’re seeing many new ways that they are gamed. (For a future column). But in aggregate, they’re remarkably effective. A single angry rant might be dismissed. Fifty similar complaints cannot. Over time, the crowd tells a story that no advertisement ever could.
What’s striking is how dramatically this contrasts with the pre-Internet era. Buying a TV once meant trusting a brand name or a salesman’s assurance. Today, you can compare specs, read long-term reliability reports, watch side-by-side video comparisons, and scan thousands of user reviews—all before opening your wallet. Consumers now arrive informed, skeptical, and empowered.
Yes, in the past we had Consumer Reports that came closest to community reviews, but that was it.
This shift has reshaped entire industries. Businesses that deliver consistent quality are rewarded with visibility and trust. Those that cut corners find it harder to hide. While no system is perfect—and some businesses unfairly suffer from bad actors or unreasonable customers—the overall effect has been to raise standards.
Perhaps most importantly, online reviews have turned commerce into a shared civic activity. We are no longer isolated consumers making blind bets. We are participants in a collective knowledge base, helping one another avoid mistakes and find excellence. Writing a thoughtful review is, in a small way, an act of public service.
In a digital world often criticized for misinformation and noise, online reviews stand out as something fundamentally useful. They remind us that when people share honest experiences at scale, we are much more informed. People helping people may be one of the Internet’s most enduring achievements.
